Device for variable height positioning of treatment appliances on dental equipment



Dec. 31, 1968 H. PIETSCHMANN 3,418,714

DEVICE FOR VARIABLE HEIGHT POSITIONING OF TREATMENT APPLIANCES ON DENTAL EQUIPMENT Filed March 23, 1964 Sheet I of 5 30 ART/671mm l PARALLELOGRAM Dec. 31, 1968 H. PIETSCHMANN 3,418,714

DEVICE FOR VARIABLE HEIGHT POSITIONING OF TREATMENT APPLIANCES ON DENTAL EQUIPMENT Filed March 23, 1964 Sheet 2 of 5 Dec. 31, 1968 H. PIETSCHMANN 3,418,714

DEVICE FOR VARIABLE HEIGHT POSITIONING OF TREATMENT APPLIANCES ON DENTAL EQUIPMENT Filed March 23, 1964 Sheet 3 of s United States Patent Ofice Patented Dec. 31, 1968 3,413,714 DEVICE FOR VARIABLE HEIGHT POSITIONING F TREATMENT APPLIANCES ON DENTAL EQUIPMENT Helmut Pietschmann, Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany, 5

assignor to Ritter Company Inc., Rochester, N.Y. Filed Mar. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 353,776 Claims priority, application Germany, Mar. 25, 1963, R 347,778 9 Claims. (Cl. 32-22) 10 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A vertically adjustable cuspidor connected to a dental stand by an arm which includes a parallel motion linkage between pivots 7, 8, 11, and 12, and a lengthwise adjustable diagonal strut including a bar 10, tubes 19 and 21, shell 18 and spring 15. The cuspidor can be vertically movable responsive to vertical movement of a dental chair 23 by means of a rod or lever 22 carried on the cuspidor and a fork 24 carried on the chair.

This invention relates to a device permitting the height adjustment of treatment appliances such as cuspidors with accessories, etc., on dental equipment, for example as on unit stands, operating chairs, pedestals and the like.

Operating chairs for use in dental ofiices must by all means be provided with a variable height positioning feature so that the operating field, i.e., the oral cavity, be brought into the right position for every operating procedure. Furthermore, height adjustment of the operating chair is of prime importance to enable the dentist to sit or stand at his Work. Height adjustment of the operating chair results very often in an unfavorable patient positioning relative to the cuspidor bowl which is mounted on an article of equipment near the operating chair. Therefore, the cuspidor with accessories, cup holder, flush assembly, etc., should also be provided with height adjustment devices so that they may be mounted on a unit stand or a pedestal. Even direct chair attachment of the height adjusting cuspidor or other treatment appliances may be of advantage with regard to the dilferent size of patients, so that the cuspidor can be always placed in exactly the right position for every patient.

Various constructions and arrangements are already known providing means for placing the cuspidor bowl in a favorable position relative to the patient. Such a partially favorable position is attained when the cuspidor bowl is rigidly attached to the chair. However, such arranger ments have the disadvantage that their position relative to the operating chair cannot be changed. Furthermore, the water supply and waste lines of the known cuspidors with rigid chair attachment are still unconcealed, and this problem has not been solved yet.

Another known appliance has solved the height adjustment of the cuspidor mounted on a unit stand by means of a hydraulic follow-up device connected to the operating chair. This has the effect that the cuspidor moves synchronously with the operating chair and is always in a good position relative to the patient. However, considerable expense is involved because of the required hydraulic devices.

It is the object of the invention to provide a device for the height adjustment of treatment appliances on dental 9 equipment permitting the cuspidor bowl to be moved not only synchronously with the operating chair, but also to individual height adjustments for every patient free from chair controls.

Furthermore, provision is made for housing the water supply and waste lines, and mounting of the device is possible not only on new equipment, but also on existing equipment such as unit stands, Operating chairs, and pedestals.

The problem is ingeniously solved by an angularly adjustable articulation parallelogram having a lengthwise adjustable spring loaded diagonal strut as a means for compensating the weight of the cuspidor bowl or treatment appliance and of the supporting arm, and is further characterized by devices for adjusting the spring load on the treatment appliance the weight of which is to be compensated or offset. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the supporting arm consists of an articulation parallelogram formed by two vertical sides and two angularly movable mainly horizontal connecting sides, one of the vertical sides being stationary and mounted on the supporting equipment, while the other, vertically adjustable side is formed by the support of the treatment appliance. The corner points of the articulation parallelogram are formed by an upper horizontal bolt and a lower horizontal bolt bearing bolt each at the stationary vertical side and at the vertically adjustable side. An arm having in cross sectional view the shape of a reversed U is pivotally mounted with its lengthened lateral U-studs on the upper horizontal bolts, thus forming the upper connecting side of the articulation parallelogram. The lower connecting side is formed by a bar which is pivotally mounted on the lower horizontal bearing bolts, one part of the length of said bar being arranged in the diagonal line of the articulated parallelogram, while at the vertical adjustable end the bar is bent down almost at right angle.

In the preferred embodiment the diagonal strut consists of two tubes, one of said tubes being provided with inside threads and the other with outside threads, and which are screwed together, whereby the inner tube provided with outside threads is supported on a hinge bolt at the support for the treatment appliance, while the outer tube provided with inside threads is held with its end or by means of a internal stop against a cylindrical coil forming pressure spring, said coil spring 'being held at the other end against a holding ring which is mounted to the bar. From the bearing bolt at the stationary vertical side to the height of the bolt at the support for the treatment appliance, the bar forming the lower connecting side of the articulation parallelogram is arranged concentrically in the longitudinal axis of the tubes and the coil spring.

In order to permit horizontal movement of the supporting arm, the stationary vertical side of the articulation parallelogram is usefully developed as a bearing which is rotatable around a vertical axis of the equipment.

This newly developed device for the height adjustment of treatment appliances has the merit of being entirely mechanical. It permits not only manual height adjustment relative to the patient, such as by a chair-side assistant, but also synchronous movement with the operating chair by means of a swinging lever which is mounted on the support and catches into a fork attached to the operating chair, while said lever may be drawn out of the support and pushed back or may be swung in and out, at will.

Subsequent mounting of the newly developed device is possible on equipment which is already provided with rigidly fixed treatment appliances, such as on cuspidors with chair attachment.

Purposely, therefore, the height adjustable support has been developed as cuspidor bowl support. A console bracket for the cup and a cup filler may be directly attached to the bowl support. The necessary water supply and waste lines for the cuspidor and eventually for the cup filler are enclosed within the supporting arm.

Because of the exclusively mechanical operation of the newly developed device, no particularly costly hydraulic or electric installations are needed. In any case the dentist has suflicient freedom of movement and, if necessary, the cuspidor may be moved by fingertip into the best position relative to the patient and to the dentist.

Further details and characteristic features relating to the object of the invention are given in the following description of the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the newly developed height adjusting device with a cuspidor bowl in different arrangements on dental equipment. The accompanying drawings show:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a device for the height adjustment of a cuspidor with a covered supporting arm mounted on the unit stand;

FIG. 2 a side view of the same embodiment of our invention but with part of the cuspidor bowl and supporting arm cut away to illustrate the motion mechanism;

FIG. 3 a top view of the same;

FIG. 4 a front view of a second embodiment of our invention with the height adjustable cuspidor mounted on a unit stand in accordance with FIG. 1, but with the difference that the cuspidor is interlocked with the operating chair; and

FIG. 5 a side view of a third embodiment of our invention with the cuspidor according to FIGS. 2 and 3 mounted on a pedestal and provided with a console for supporting the cup and the cup filler.

The new height adjustable cuspidor 1 is provided with a condensation collector 1a and both rest on a support 2. A supporting arm 3 in which an articulation parallelogram is incorporated height adjustably connects the cuspidor bowl support 2 with a horizontally movable arm support 6 on a unit stand 4 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 or on a pedestal 5 according to FIGS. 2, 3, and 5. The articulation parallelogram consists of arms 9 which are mounted on the bowl support 2 by means of bolts 7 and movably mounted on the arm support 6 by means of pivot bolts 8. A bar 10 whose one end is bent down Y almost at right angles and is movably mounted on a bearing bolt 11 at the cuspidor bowl support 2 and on a bearing bolt 12 at the arm support 6. The bearing bolt 11 is mounted in a bearing block 13 fixed to the support 2, and the bearing bolt 12 is mounted in a bearing block 14 fixed to the arm support 6. Within the articulation parallelogram, which is defined by the bolts 7, 8, and bearing bolts 11 and 12 forming the corner or fixed points, the bar 10 extends from the bearing bolt 12 in diagonal direction to bearing bolt 7 and is then bent down almost at right angles to the bearing bolt 11. This articulation parallelobram is best illustrated in FIG. 1, in which the upper and lower side walls of the parallelog-ram are illustrated respectively by the centerlines 31 and 30. The numerals having suffixes A illustrate an upwardly articulated position shown in broken line. A cylindrical coil spring 15 is placed over the diagonally located part of the "bar 10, said coil spring 15 resting on a holding ring 17 in front of the bearing bolt 12 and, said holding ring 17 being rigidly connected with the bar 10 by means of a bolt 16. At the opposite end, the coil spring 15 is resting on the end of an outer tube 19 which is fixed in a shell 18. The outer tube 19 is screwed over an inner tube 21 which is connected, angularly movable, to the bowl support 2 by means of pivot bolt 20. Weight bears through bolt and the spring 15. By turning the outer tube 19, with respect to the shell 18, the tension of the coil spring 15 may be increased or decreased. The tension of the coil spring 15 offers a resistance to the weight of the system formed by the cuspidor bowl 1, condensation collector 1a, and supporting arm 3, and may be so adjusted as to assure the equilibrium of said system in any position of the parts.

The newly developed device permits manual adjustment of the cuspidor bowl 1 to any desired height. But synchronous adjustment of the cuspidor mounted on the unit stand 4 is also possible, dependent on the movement of the operating chair 23, by means of a lever 22 which is rigidly mounted in horizontal position on the cuspidor support 2 and a fork 24 attached to the operating chair 23, as illustrated in FIG. 4. The lever 22 and the fork 24 are horizontally movable so that the dentist may pass between the unit stand 4 and the operating chair 23 if necessary.

Another embodiment of our invention is shown in FIG. 5. The height adjustable cuspidor 1 is mounted on a pedestal 5, and a console bracket 25 'for the cup 26 and the cup filler 27 has been provided. The water supply and waste lines are housed in the the supporting arm 3 and in the pedestal 5.

A cuspidor provided with the new height adjusting device may also be mounted directly on the movable part of the operating chair 23, as for example at the arm rest, without difficulty. In this arrangement, the height adjusting device pertaining to my invention permits final adjustment of the cuspidor bowl position relative to the patients mouth.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be apparent that various changes and modifications may be made therein, particularly in the form and relation of parts, without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A structure for use by dentists and their patients comprising, in combination:

(a) a dental stand;

(b) a dental chair for the reception of a patient;

(0) a cuspidor assembly including a bowl movably mounted on said dental stand;

(d) lever means attached to the cuspidor assembly and pivoted for movement in a horizontal plane;

(e) means on said chair for engaging said lever means to move said cuspidor assembly vertically when said chair is moved vertically.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which said lever is vertically rigid and in which said engaging means comprises a fork into which said lever is adapted to pivot.

3. A device for adjusting the height of a dental cuspidor assembly comprising, in combination: a parallel motion linkage including a supporting arm forming an angularly adjustable articulation parallelogram, a lengthwise adjustable diagonal strut mounted in said arm, a coil spring operatively associated with said strut for compensating the weight of the cuspidor assembly and the supporting arm, and means for adjusting the tension of the spring relative to the weight of the cuspidor, the weight of which is to be compensated.

4. A device in accordance with claim 3 in which the corner pivots of said articulation parallelogram are formed by an upper horizontal bolt and a lower horizontal bearing bolt at the stationary vertical side, and by an upper horizontal bolt and a lower horizontal bearing bolt at the vertically adjustable side.

5. A device in accordance with claim 3, in which said diagonal strut consists of two tubes which are provided with inside and outside threads screwed together, one of said tubes being pivotally mounted on a hinge bolt where the cuspidor assembly is supported and the other tube being held by means of an internal stop against said coil spring, said coil spring being held at the other end against a holding ring which is fixed to the diagonal strut.

6. A structure for use by dentists and their patients cg nprising, in combination:

(a) a dental stand;

(b) a dental chair for receiving a patient;

(0) a cuspidor assembly including a bowl, said assembly being movably mounted on said dental stand;

(d) vertically rigid and horizontally pivotable lever means connected to said cuspidor assembly;

(e) means on said chair for engaging said lever means for moving said cuspidor assembly responsive to movement of said chair, said engaging means comprising a fork member having at least two legs and being connected to said chair, said lever means being adapted to pivot into said fork between said legs such that when said chair is raised one leg of said fork member engages said lever to raise said cuspidor assembly and when said chair is lowered another leg of said fork member engages said lever to lower said cuspidor assembly.

7. In a vertically movable dental treatment appliance connected to a support by means of a support arm comprising an angularly adjustable articulation parallelogram linkage including four corner pivots and further comprising a diagonal strut, said strut including a spring and being connected between two of said pivots for compensating the Weight of said appliance, the combination therewith of:

means associated with said strut and said spring for adjusting the tension on said spring.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 in which said strut comprises a pair of mating tubes, screw threaded one inside the other, and in which said spring is mounted inside said mating tubes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1961 Brown 312- 71 FOREIGN PATENTS 76,276 3/1948 Norway.

1,041,206 10/1958 Germany.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner. S. NATTER, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

